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What to Eat is on Wyndham Street in Central. Photo: Martin Choi

What to Eat Taiwanese restaurant in Central: go for the egg rolls with cheese, but forget about the beef noodles

  • The bustling Wyndham Street location serves up traditional Taiwanese fare
  • The delicious egg rolls with cheese will only set you back US$10

Bustling Taiwanese restaurant, What to Eat, is only a short walk from Hong Kong’s Central MTR station.

Inside the Wyndham Street location, the walls are decorated with cartoon drawings of people waiting outside in queue – and this is what you should expect. We waited five to 10 minutes on a Friday night before we were seated.

Flavourful Taiwanese beef noodles at Tristar Kitchen, Causeway Bay

Once we were inside, one of the waiters, who was quite efficient and spoke Mandarin with a strong Taiwanese accent, told us that we had only 45 minutes to eat because we were there at a peak time.

The menu has a wide variety of traditional Taiwanese rice and noodle dishes, snacks and drinks, and there are handwritten recommendations posted on the wall.

We started off with the Taiwanese braised beef rib noodles (HK$82). The noodles had a nice texture and the beef ribs were tender. The soup base was mildly spicy with a slight taste of herbs, but even with the generous amount of scallions and spice added to the broth, we felt this bowl of noodles lacked flavour.

Beef noodles at What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi
Pork rice at What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi
Inside What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi

The braised pork rice (HK$42) was offered only in a “small” size on the dinner menu, but it was quite a generous portion. It’s hard to go wrong with this traditional Taiwanese rice dish, with shreds of fatty pork and tiny chunks of preserved radish served in a succulent sauce.

The Taiwanese egg rolls with cheese (HK$39) was the highlight of the meal. The omelette had a molten cheese centre, and was wrapped inside a thin layer of glutinous rice with a sprinkle of scallion. The egg roll was crisp and chewy on the outside, and the cheese was running on the inside. The sweet sauce lathered on top added flavour to the dish.

The crispy popcorn chicken (HK$48) was disappointing. While the batter was crisp without being heavy, the chicken was dry. It was also a bit salty for our taste.

Egg rolls at What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi
Crispy Chicken at What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi
Recommendations at What to Eat. Photo: Martin Choi
Bubble tea. Photo: Martin Choi

For drinks, we ordered hot rosella tea (HK$30) and iced Taiwanese bubble tea (HK$35). Served in a blue cup, the hot rosella tea was sweet and tasted stronger than it looked.

The Taiwanese bubble tea was served in a transparent mug. The large tapioca pearls were mildly sweet and elastic, and the tea had a nice fragrance without tasting too strong, making it a good drink with dinner.

What to Eat, Carfield Commercial Building, 77 Wyndham Street, Central, tel: 2810 9278. Open Monday noon-3pm, Tuesday to Friday noon-3pm and 6pm-9pm, Saturday noon-9pm.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Comfort food in a hurry at Taiwanese newcomer
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